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Curiosities of Biological Nomenclature
Mark Isaak       eciton@earthlink.net
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Wordplay: Rhymes and Alliteration

Adonnadonna primadonna (siliceous microfossil) Named for a 60's pop song by Dionne & The Belmonts.
Aequorea victoria (bioluminescent hydromedusa)
Alcelaphus buselaphus Pallas, 1766 (hartebeest) A. buselaphus buselaphus, an extinct subspecies, gives a trinomial rhyme.
Alouatta ululata Elliot, 1912 (howler monkey) Often, though, considered a subspecies, Alouatta belzebub ululata.
Apolysis crisis Evenhuis, 1990 (bee fly)
Apus opus (common (European) swift)
Bacillus subtilis (Ehrenberg 1835) Cohn, 1872 (bacterium, a mild relative of anthrax)
Cedusa medusa McAtee, 1924 (bug)
Chrysanthemum leucanthemum (oxeye daisy)
Chrysophora chrysochlora (Latreille) (scarab)
Esquisetum myriochaetum (giant Mexican horsetail).
Gelae belae Miller and Wheeler, 2004 (fungus beetle) See also the other puns on Gelae.
Gymnothorax mordax (California moray)
Heterosquilla polydactyla (mantis shrimp)
Iyaiyai Evenhuis, 1994 (fossil chaoborid fly) Evenhuis originally proposed "I" as the genus name (allowed by the ICZN rules), but a chaoborid worker told him he didn't want ever to have to write in a paper that "I have small male genitalia", so Evenhuis changed it to a more Mexican sounding genus name.
Macrotis lagotis Reid, 1837 (Rabbit-eared bandicoot)
Raffia ruffia (raffia plant) Also noted for having the largest leaves, up to 65.5 ft. long.
Rana bwana Hillis & DeSa, 1988 (South American frog) Named in honor of renowned herpetologist Dr. James R. Dixon. Dixon had many taxa named after him already, so Hillis and DeSa named the frog after Dixon's nickname, "Bwana" Jim.
Sagittarius serpentarius (secretary bird)
Salacca zalacca (Indonesian palm)

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